His fist pounded the arm of his chair.?But what does it matter if I guard the borders of Norrheim now, and in a generation or two or three etin-craft and troll-men flood over us like a tide!?

Rudi tapped a finger on his chin:?I think there was more than one message in the seeing you made, lady Heidhveig; and more than one meaning to every message. A certain One we?ve both met is crafty and subtle. You may not have noticed, Bjarni, but the… Old Man?s.. . word was not the only part of the vision you need to ponder.?

At Bjarni?s surprised look he went on:?That unfortunate honey-haired lass who lost her man north of here? Well, that?s the way we?ve come, and the Cutters have been at work there too; hence the man in the red robe with the sun sign on it. That was an adept, an evil magus…? ?A trollkjerring, we would say,? Heidhveig said.

Rudi nodded:?Stirring up the wild bands, those you deem troll-men, so. They?ll move those against you, I would guess. What other dwellers there are in that country are few and weak, and the Prophet?s ambitions are not limited to Montival. Corwin aims to bring all of humankind under their sway in the end.?

Bjarni had looked… not fearful, but apprehensive, before. Now his face firmed into a thing of slabs and angles; that was a threat he could understand in gut and bone. ?You see as clearly as Heimdall! That I can tell the Althing, and be believed!? ?And that will serve our common cause,? Rudi said.?Otherwise those men will fall on allies of ours, and enemies of the Enemy, further west.? ?But as for us, we need to get to Nantucket,? Mathilda said. ?Your, ah, High One himself said it. Without the Sword of the Lady, we?ll surely lose. Mary, intercede for us!? ?The old tales have a number of such swords in them,? Ignatius said, half as if to himself.?Many were born by paladins of the Light. Arthur?s Excalibur, of course. Durendal, that Roland bore at Roncevalles against the infidel. Perhaps they were less metaphorical and more substantial than my teachers thought. I don?t think the pagan elements matter, in the end.? ?Tyrfing,? Harberga said.?Though I?m glad it?s not that blade.? ?Getting to Nantucket… there I can help you,? Heidhveig said. ?I came out here with my family before the Change because of a… feeling you might say; and because Kalk told me he foresaw a great troubling of the world while I was dickering with him over a harp.?

Rudi couldn?t quite hold back a blink of surprise. Heidhveig smiled and stroked one knotted hand over another. ?Yes, I made music once. I stayed with Kalk and his people at the coast through the first month after the Change, before Erik Waltersson arrived; Kalk was pagan too, and a student of the old crafts, and I put them in touch with each other when I heard the Bjornings had come.? ?From which meeting many deeds came in turn,? Bjarni said.

Heidhveig nodded.?I stay there still when I?m not traveling between garths working seidh… or just visiting the great-grandchildren, nowadays.? ?He?s called Kalk the Shipwright,? Bjarni said.?He makes ships and much else, at the garth he built by the sea after the Change.?

His hand indicated the carved pillars of the hall, and the grim magnificence on the walls; by implication, the dragonheads that reared proud from rafter and roof-tree outside. ?All the finest woodworkers in Norrheim trained with him and his folk. They?ve cunning smiths and fine weavers there too, and wise in many other arts. Kalk collects craft skill, as some men do gold or horses or fine weapons; and his sons and grandsons are the same.?

Heidhveig took up the tale.?The Shipwright?s men are great traders and fishermen, and often in viking…?

Rudi?s eyebrows went up, and she chuckled. ?Oh, that?s changed meaning here. They go to the dead cities and hunt for goods they can use or barter. As far as New York, sometimes.? ?Hmmm.? Ingolf rubbed his short-cropped beard.?I was in the same trade, though overland; I think we were the only Midwesterners to reach the east coast and survive. So far, at least. Vikings? You?d need something like that. Salvage work?s… well, there are treasures, right enough, but yah, they?re hard to get at. I can see why you used that word.?

Bjarni shrugged.?We trade in peace with the Isle of the Prince, and with the English Empire and the Norrlanders. And the Icelander folk. Those of them who stayed there and didn?t go back to the ancient homelands-to Norrland, it?s called now-or to England, offer to the Aesir now too. Not much trade in any one year, but it?s welcome.?

He scowled.?And besides the troll-men who haunt the ruins, our folk fight with the blaumenn sometimes, southward, over salvage rights.? ?Blue-men?? Rudi said. ?The English call them Moors,? Heidhveig said.?They?re from Senegal, really. They?re numerous but their lands are metal poor, not having as many cities from before the Change for mining and salvage.? ?My foster father, Sir Nigel Loring, helped keep the Isle of Wight alive through the Change, and was a leader in the resettlement of England before he had to flee from Mad King Charles,? Rudi said thoughtfully.?He mentioned trouble with them.? ?No, they?re not friendly to outsiders at all, though I suppose they have their own reasons which seem good to them,? Heidhveig said.

Bjarni inclined his head towards Fred Thurston, sitting astraddle a bench among the group around Odard. He was laughing, his head thrown back, with a mug of the dark Bjorning ale in his hand, and Virgina stood with her arm around his shoulders and his around her waist. ?I thought he might be one, from his looks, but he seems a fine young fellow, and I?d judge him a good man of his hands already.? ?Few better, none braver,? Rudi said crisply.?No lord could want a better… gesith, you say?? ? Gesith -companion? Yes, or hirdman.? ?And no warrior a better comrade,? Rudi finished. ?He?d better be a strong man, to keep up with that she-cat,? Harberga said.?She?s a wild one, if I?ve ever seen any.? ?She has reason to face the world like a drawn blade,? Rudi said soberly.?They?re well matched; Virginia?s shrewder than you might think from her manner, and Fred uses his head for more than a helmet rest, too. And doesn?t lose it when the steel?s out.?

Bjarni nodded.?Of course, he?s an Odinsman. Why, the High One claimed him in person! That?s a great honor, though not one I envy; I?ll stick with my old friend Thor.? ?And if he?s good enough for Odin, he?s good enough for me,? Heidhveig said, with an odd half-chanting tone in her voice.

When they looked at her she shrugged.?Classical reference. Now, we were speaking of Kalk Shipwright… Kalk?s stubborn-more now than ever, he?s even older than me!-and he won?t want to risk a ship. Most are laid up this time of year. But I think he?ll listen to me. And if not to me, then to the High One. Though he offers mostly to Njord and Freyr, himself.?

They spent some time thrashing out the details; when Rudi?s party would leave, how Bjarni would help with the journey to the coast, and how to send out messages warning the rest of the Norrheim tribes that trouble was foreseen. The conversation wound up as the celebrations began again in earnest.

Rudi joined in the laughter and applause as thirteen masked youths in gaudy-raggedy costumes entered and cut capers, tumbling and playing pranks.

Then the children in the hall called out their names, seeking to chase them down and tag them: ?Stiff-Legs!? one cried, and clutched the sleeve of a figure who had stilts under his too-long breeks.

The others were caught one by one, some trying to climb the pillars until they dropped back into the shrieking crowd: Gully Gawk, Shorty, Ladle Licker, Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker, Door Slammer, Skyr Gobbler, Sausage Snatcher, Window Peeper, Sniffer, Meat Hook and Candle Beggar.

When they were captured the tumblers handed out shoes stuffed with toys and candied nuts and other treats. Harberga carried a broom around the hall and beat them forth with it, the youngsters following in a chain dance, before relenting and announcing: ?Come, those who wish to come; stay, those who wish to stay; and farewell, those who wish to fare away, harmless to me and mine!?